Ithaca College Theatre Presents Orpheus in the Underworld

Ithaca College Theatre begins the spring portion of its 1998–99 season with Offenbach’s comic operetta Orpheus in the Underworld. This coproduction with the School of Music runs Tuesday through Saturday, February 23–27, in the Hoerner Theatre, Dillingham Center for the Performing Arts.

Directed by Arno Selco with musical direction by Patrick Hansen, this romantic comedy is an updated retelling of an ancient myth about a mortal named Orpheus whose music enchants everyone and everything — except his wife, Eurydice. When she is lured to the underworld by the god Pluto, Orpheus must go into the depths of Hades to bring her back. What he believes to be a simple task turns into something quite different, especially when the lives of gods and mortals are intertwined.

The cast for Orpheus in the Underworld is an ensemble of Ithaca College students including, in alternating performances, Brian Bohrer ’99 and Shawn Puller, M.M. ’03, as Orpheus, Tina Batchelder-Schwab ’94 and Erica Lauren Grieshaber ’99 as Eurydice, Antonio Serrano ’99 and Gerard Gombatto ’02 as Pluto, and Amanda Tafel ’00 and Joan Antoinette Stafford ’01 as Calliope.

The artistic staff includes Eugenia Wacker-Hoeflin, choreographer; Tracey Hibbard ’99, stage manager; Jen Caprio ’99, costume designer; Tom Gleeson ’99, scenic designer; Adam Klein ’99, sound designer; and Quentin Stockwell ’99, lighting designer.

Performances of Orpheus in the Underworld will be staged nightly at 8:00 p.m., with an additional 2:00 p.m. matinee on Saturday. Tickets for the Tuesday through Thursday evening performances and the Saturday matinee are $4.50 for students; $6.00 for Ithaca College staff and faculty, senior citizens, and members of the Friends of Ithaca College; and $7.50 for the general public. Friday and Saturday evening tickets for those groups are $6.00, $7.00, and $9.00, respectively. Discounts are available for groups of 15 or more.

Tickets go on sale at the Ithaca College box office, located in Dillingham Center, on February 15. For more information or to reserve tickets please call 274-3224. Box office hours are Monday through Friday from noon until 5:00 p.m.